# What Side of Your Car do You Put the Gas In? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820 "2020-06-17T02:14:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/41 "2020-06-17T15:55:39Z")
> **[Why Some Cars Have Gas Tank Fillers On The Left Or The Right](https://jalopnik.com/why-some-cars-have-gas-tank-fillers-on-the-left-or-the-1792790492)** > > Quick—which side of your car is your fuel filler on? No running outside to look, that’s cheating, and you might get hurt pulling your pants on. Chances are most of you at the very least had to take a moment to think about this. I suspect you won’t... Good summary of the gas cap side options and car company decisions. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/42 "2020-06-17T15:59:31Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Is it a regional thing? USA cars vs European or Korean cars? > > (I confess that all cars look alike to me) It seems like I heard somewhere, likely NPR’s _Car Talk_ when that was on the air, that European (or maybe just German) cars tend to put the filler on the passenger’s side. The reason, if I remember correctly, is that if run out of gas and you’re standing on the side of the road filling the tank from a gas can, you’ll be standing on the side away from traffic. Every car I’ve ever owned, both American and Japanese makes, have had it on the driver’s side. A few rental cars I’ve driven have had it on the other side. As I recall they were a Mazda 3 and a VW Jetta. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/43 "2020-06-17T16:15:23Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I only heard about an arrow. Interesting! The bit quoted below says early 1990s…which 2002 Pontiac do you have? > > [Fuel gauge - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_gauge) 2002 Pontiac Trans Am ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/44 "2020-06-17T16:34:48Z")
My current car fills on the drivers side. My previous car filled from the passenger side. I used to drive a Jaguar that had two tanks - one on each side. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/45 "2020-06-17T16:48:25Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > 2002 Pontiac Trans Am I wonder why they elected not to indicate it. I used to regularly check in my side view mirrors. A lot of the hoses reach both sides, anyway, which is helpful if I’m in a hurry and don’t want to wait for a pump on the convenient side. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/46 "2020-06-17T17:02:21Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > if run out of gas and you’re standing on the side of the road filling the tank from a gas can, you’ll be standing on the side away from traffic. I had to do this once. It would have been easier and less scary if the car involved had had its gas tank on the passenger side. Other than that, I’m not sure it matters to me which side the gas tank is on. Although, depending on how the pumps at the gas station are set up, there may be an advantage to **not** having all the cars the same way. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/47 "2020-06-17T17:10:40Z")
I technically shouldn’t have answered the poll, since while my gas cap is on the drivers’ side of the car, I don’t use it like an ordinary person. I use it like an awesome person, because that’s the only way I’m capable of doing things. It’s a curse. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/48 "2020-06-17T17:25:35Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Is it a regional thing? USA cars vs European or Korean cars? > > (I confess that all cars look alike to me) It’s a regional thing in the sense that in RHD countries the filler cap is likely to be on the passenger side. Because more cars are sold in LHD, and manufacturers prefer to put the cap on the driver’s side, the cap will typically be on the left. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/49 "2020-06-17T21:02:15Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Subaru, so passenger side. This turns out to be a benefit at busy gas stations since more cars have it on the drivers side. One of the reasons I loved my Subaru! Now we have two Hyunais, both feeding from the driver’s side. You people must be young. When I was a kid a lot of cars filled from the centre of the back end, right above the bumper. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/50 "2020-06-17T22:12:43Z")
My Cadillac is on the driver’s side. My old Beetle is on the passenger’s side, and towards the front since the tank is in front of you. My Kit Car is a Beetle underneath but the tank was moved to the rear, with the filler still on the passenger’s side. Both pickup trucks are on the driver’s side. Two motorcycles are on the top center of the tank and one motorcycle is on the right side of the tank, though it’s a motorcycle so you could still easily reach it from the left side if you want. My Beetle is a 74 so you don’t need to open the hood (trunk? whatever you want to call the one in the front) to fill the gas tank. That change happened some time in the late 60s, so **FastDan1** ’s Beetle was mid 1960s or earlier. My first car was a 78 Olds Delta 88 with the filler behind the license plate. That would probably confuse most millennials, but at least it wasn’t hidden behind the tail light like some cars in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/51 "2020-06-17T22:12:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s a regional thing in the sense that in RHD countries the filler cap is likely to be on the passenger side. Because more cars are sold in LHD, and manufacturers prefer to put the cap on the driver’s side, the cap will typically be on the left. The logic of LHD left side door is so you can more easily position the car at optimum distance from pump. OTOH, right hand door on a LHD/drive-on-right country means you’re not standing in the road when pulled over using a gas can. If you look at position by country of origin of manufacturer, it seems like the second logic is more common at least some places, or was. Since brands from drive-on-right Continental Europe are usually right side fuel door, and most Japanese brands are left side fuel door (though Subaru is right, Nissan has models with either, etc). Although the US brands don’t particularly corroborate that, being more mixed by brand and model but left side door more common. Also South Korea is drive-on-right, but Hyundai and Kia are door on left. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/52 "2020-06-17T23:54:56Z")
My new car (2017 US model) is on the passenger side. I’m pissed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/53 "2020-06-17T23:58:36Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Thinking about it, every car I’ve owned has been driver’s side. > > Way back when, my Dad owned a 1969 Chevy that had the gas cap behind the rear license plate in the middle of the bumper, but that’s the only time I’ve ever seen that. My 1979 AMC Hornet had that too. Some gas station attendants couldn’t find it. Currently, I have two electric vehicles, both have charge ports on the driver’s side. One forward, one near the rear. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/54 "2020-06-22T05:06:04Z")
Can’t find the old post because Google brings up the old board and the new search engine makes the old search engine look good (god help us). Anyway, in the late 1980s I purchased an old 1973 Toyota Corolla because I was going to be a commuter student in grad school and had to have one. On day two drove into the service station. Walked around the left side of car – ?!? Walked around the right side of the car - ?!@??? Walked to the back, tugged on the license plate (cuz that’s where it had been on my old Pontiac). Nope. [Check this photo](https://cdn-0.barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1973-Toyota-Corolla-600x400.jpg). See that tiny little piece of chrome way the fuck up at window level? No, not on this side, but on the driver’s side. There was a filler spout hiding behind that damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/55 "2020-06-22T05:30:36Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > [Check this photo](https://cdn-0.barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1973-Toyota-Corolla-600x400.jpg). See that tiny little piece of chrome way the fuck up at window level? No, not on this side, but on the driver’s side. There was a filler spout hiding behind that damn thing. In the early '70s, my mom had a Mercury Capri. The fuel fill door was in a similar spot, but on the passenger side (as shown in the picture below). At least Ford didn’t hide it behind a chrome bit. ![Capri](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/a/a58bdf4f44b6d72e7993cedbeae6801e30deae9e.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820/56 "2020-06-22T08:02:38Z")
Two vehicles, both have the gas cap on the driver’s side. 99 Ford and a 02 Toyota. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-of-your-car-do-you-put-the-gas-in/855820.md?page=2)